Has anyone here used a full coverage tow bra ? I am considering one for our new HHR and wonder if there are any big down sides to it. Or. is there another good system out there to protect the toads finish and windshield.

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Has anyone here used a full coverage tow bra ? I am considering one for our new HHR and wonder if there are any big down sides to it. Or. is there another good system out there to protect the toads finish and windshield.

We used a tow bra for 3 years with little or no trouble, then we drove the top of the world highway. The sand and gravel got between the bra and the fender at the hole for the antenna causing several scratches which could not be buffed out. I would use one only if there was no holes for the antenna and I wouldn't use one on gravel or sandy roads. Keeping them clean is a major part of them doing the job they were ment to do.

We have one for our towed. We have used it for 6 years without problem. You do have to clean it they get very dirty. We have used it in the desert, and winds, and snow and ice, works well. We made ours using marine vinyl and gromits and custom fit it, took an afternoon to do it and cost about $50.

Hi Jestme13, by "backer" do you mean like a lining on the back of the vinyl? If so, we did not use anything. It is relatively soft and has not been abrasive to the finish on the car. We sewed it on just a regular domestic sewing machine, Bernina. DW says we used regular thread but she did two lines of stitching. We have not had to redo any of the sewing.

We have tried the half bra on the Vue and had mixed results. It is fine as long as there is no rain and splash from the coach. When it rains and we are running the toad gets loaded with road junk, especially sand and I have found it in the bra. I have stopped using it and am going to a full shield mounted on the base plate of the toad.

Coast line is the bra I'm looking at. They told me that cleaning is the secret to sucsess with the bra. Keep the car and bra clen, and the bra tight and there will be no problems. It looks good, but still worries me. Shields are even more expensive then this Bra.

We have towed about 40,000 miles over the last 7 years and do not usually cover the car with anything - or have any of the tow shield products between coach & car either. But when traveling in Alaska & some parts of western Canada back in 2002 we were taking a beating so we fabricated a full bra from some cotton backed heavy duty vinyl (my wife goes nowhere without her trusty sewing machine!) and it worked great. We traveled the Top of the World Hwy like like Indiana Journey did and had no problems, but he is right about dirt/sand getting underneath on dusty roads and I wouldn't want it to accumulate too much. And it definitely needs to be tight or the chafing of the material will indeed wear the finish.

__________________
Gary Brinck
Former owner of 2004 American Tradition
Home is in the Ocala Nat'l Forest near Ocala, FL
Summers in Black Mountain, NC

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Coast line </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
We used the Coastline cover on our first toad (mainly for our 2005 trip to Alaska). It fit poorly and got a lot of windy under it as we traveled. In the rain, it picked up wet road grit and had to cleaned and dried before reinstalling. Hard to do when it rains for several days in a row. It rubbed the paint down on both fenders. Plus, the straps that held the piece in the windshield let rain in. For our new toad, we just had the 3M Clear Bra installed.